


Halves of a Whole

by killerkitty15



Series: Always [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alpha Thor (Marvel), Alpha/Alpha, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe, Beta Clint Barton, Beta/Beta, Beta/Omega, Children, Crime Fighting, Family, Fluff and Smut, Implied Mpreg, Implied Relationships, M/M, Male Slash, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg, Multi, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Loki (Marvel), Omega Natasha Romanov, Out of Character, Pseudo-Incest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 00:57:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16843918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killerkitty15/pseuds/killerkitty15
Summary: Thor prided himself on his children, on how capable they were, even though they weren't his by blood. He's all too excited to introduce them to his friends, the Avengers... their mother, though, has some reservations.





	Halves of a Whole

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place right after the previous one. Originally, I had this as part of the epilogue but I decided to make it a story in and of itself. After I decided to make a chapter for each of Loki's children, I thought it would be too much to put into one story. So... that's my explanation. I hope you enjoy!

The dead had been rising from their graves. If it was an isolated incident, it wouldn’t be as alarming as it was, but the problem was quickly growing, spreading across the country and with the number of unmarked or desecrated burial sites, it was obviously something that had to be addressed. Dr. Banner couldn’t deduce the cause, except that it was magical, and the Scarlet Witch was in Russia —they didn’t want to even begin to explain what a political nightmare that had been, not to mention the _paperwork_ — so that left very few to help figure out what was happening.

“Why not bring Hel to a meeting?” Loki had hesitantly suggested as he attempted to get Búi to eat his vegetables, “She may have some insight as to which one of her colleagues has allowed such a transgression to transpire.”

“Colleagues?”

“Surely you did not think she was in charge of all the dead in the Nine Realms. What a nightmare. I never would have allowed it.”

Thus, Thor had brought it to the rest of the Avengers’ attention —really, it was only Natasha, Tony and Bruce, the others dealing with the zombie problem, trying to round them up instead of smashing them into pieces— and they had agreed to meet with her and seek her counsel. Well, Tony and Natasha did, Bruce was busy slaving away in his lab, desperately trying to find a scientific alternative.

“Why do we have to meet this woman at such a high end place?” Tony asked, fiddling with his watch as he and Natasha entered the restaurant, taking their reserved table by the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the streets of New York.

“Thor requested it,” Natasha said, smoothing down the fabric of her dress and ordering a bottle of wine, never mind that it was only 12:30 in the afternoon, “It seems he has a relationship with this woman.”

“I wonder how his mate feels about that.”

“Just because he knows her, doesn’t mean he slept with her,” the former assassin scolded, “Don’t confuse Thor with yourself, Tony.”

“Har-har, that was almost funny.”

Natasha smiled slightly, looking out the window and trying to spot the blonde Asgardian and his guest. A nondescript, but luxurious, black car pulled up to the curb and out stepped Thor, blonde hair pulled up in a bun and finely sculpted body encased in an expensive Midgardian suit.

“They’re here,” she informed and Tony turned his head, the two of them looking down at the street below, nerves making their hearts beat faster as they awaited the appearance of their guest.

Thor extended his hand into the car, large, tan hand fully encasing a slender, pale one as he helped the woman from the car. She was young, in her twenties, though her exact age was not possible to pinpoint, of an average height in a form fitting, black, business casual dress and glossy black heels that almost brought the top of her head within Thor’s eyesight. Her long black hair flowed freely in the wind and she still managed to look beautiful and model like even as the wind whipped it into her face. The blonde laughed, tucking her hair behind her ear before manipulating the wind to blow her hair away from her face as if she was facing a large fan.

“That can’t be his mate… can it?”

Natasha glared in the direction of her teammate before her eyes flitted back over to the two beings not of this world. “He would have told us if she was.”

They continued to watch the familiar behavior of the two. As Thor placed a hand on the woman’s back,leaning in and saying something into her ear, her eyes traveled upwards, landing on the two Avengers with laser like focus. She smirked in a way that was startlingly familiar but neither Tony nor Natasha could place it. The woman soon turned to Thor and, after an exchange of words, they entered the building.

“Well. She sure looks like the hoity toity type.”

“Should you really be talking?”

Tony sneered, prepared to retort, when commotion towards the front of the restaurant called their attention. People stared as Thor and his guest seemed to take up the air in the room, the Asgardians making an impact without even trying. Thor’s eyes scanned over his onlookers until they landed on his friends and he raised his hand, voice booming across the bustling restaurant. “Anthony, Lady Natasha! You are early!”

“So we are,” Natasha chuckled, standing to hug the blonde before she turned to the woman standing slightly behind him —she inhaled discreetly, noting the woman’s unusual scent of upturned earth, ice and ale, in addition to the underlying mellowness of a Beta— and asked, “Who might you be?”

“Ah! My friends, this is Hel—.”

“I am the Queen of the Dead,” she said, her calm, crisp voice one of a woman brought up for royalty, “One of them. I reside over those that fall due to disease and age.”

Tony gawked, staring at the young woman who didn't look to be queen of… well… anything. Not at her age. Natasha could understand. Even though she was clearly beautiful and the way she held herself was, definitely, that of a queen, she looked too young. “I see,” Natasha responded instead, shaking her hand before starting introductions, “I’m Natasha and the one staring like an idiot over there is Tony.”

The millionaire stood up then, collecting himself, before offering Hel his hand, “Great to meet you.”

“I have heard much about you and the rest of your team,” she said as she slips her hand into Tony’s and the way she does is so graceful it should be a crime, “Father tells me that you are all fierce warriors. I must say, I am surprised. I have heard how skeptical Midgard is of Omegas on the battlefield.” Her eyes —Natasha took note that they were a vibrant green, looking exotic and inhumanly perfect against her pale skin and dark hair —roamed over Natasha’s body and, had she still had the majority of her Omega instincts— she would have shivered at the intensity of that look; instead, the red head only had a squirming in her belly, her instincts trying to fight to the surface, and she reminded herself of Clint as she took her seat, finding Tony gawking again and still standing.

“Father? Who—?”

“Ah, did I not tell you?” Thor asked with no small amount of fondness and pride, looking at the young woman with such softness that Natasha is instantly reminded of how he looked at his young sons— “Hel is my daughter.” The Beta looked at him with a shy, affectionate look and only the tiniest traces of exasperation as he pulled her to his chest and gently, lovingly, pressed a kiss to the side of her head, careful not to mess up her hair or make up.

Tony was still gawking as the two took their seats, leaving him the only one standing. “But— how?— you’re age, you—!”

“Asgardians age differently than us,” Natasha answered his stuttered question, looking at the blonde for his confirmation. Thor nodded. “It’s possible.”

“My mate and I did have her at a rather young age,” Thor coaxed, prompting the millionaire to take his seat, “But, if you ever see my mother then you would not think she is a great-grandmother, she barely looks older than—.”

“Excuse me?” Natasha was the one to interrupt, her eyebrows shooting up her forehead and she was honestly unable to control the accumulated shock she was experiencing, “That would mean that you are a grandfather.” The red head cast a look over to Hel, who only laughed, sipping at a glass of water a waiter hurriedly brought over.

“I have many siblings, Lady Natasha. I, unfortunately, do not have the constitution for childbearing.”

At Hel’s bitter smile, Natasha felt an ache in her chest. To not be able to bear children, yet desperately want them, was a trial Natasha knew all too well. But, before she could comfort the other woman, Thor swept in, taking the Beta’s hand in his and kissing her knuckles.

“Hel and her mate continue to make us proud. Receiving grandchildren from them is not a concern for us. We only wish for her to find fulfillment,” he said in such a fatherly way that it made Natasha envious, wishing her father had been similar —she can see from the scowl on Tony’s face that he felt the same way— “And if she still feels that a child would fulfill her… then there are always other avenues. Garmr is a Beta as well. He would not mind raising a child that is not of his blood.” From the way Thor was talking, Natasha could tell that the conversation was an old one and didn’t feel like dissecting what sounded like a terribly complicated history.

“Uh, so, not that this isn’t… pleasant, and all, but shouldn’t we be getting to the zombies outside our front door?” Tony said, abruptly shifting the conversation to a much more manageable, unpleasant topic.

“Yes but, first, one of my subjects has stated that this place has wonderful ‘cheesecake’. I have not tried it before but I wish to partake,” Hel demanded, her tone making no room for argument.

Tony tried anyway. “But—.”

“She will eat whatever she wants,” Thor said as she beckoned a waiter forward, “Midgard has a wide range of food uncommon or unheard of in the other Nine Realms. I am a fan of the ‘dessert nachos’ and of baklava, which is reminiscent of—.”

“Thor,” the millionaire snapped, clearly exasperated, “Bruce hasn’t slept in three days, we need answers _now.”_

“...I apologize, my friend. I often forget myself around my children,” the blonde apologized, straightening his posture and face contorting into the serious one reserved for battle or dire circumstances, “but, yes, the undead have become quite the issue.”

“Ah, yes, it seems that one of my… colleagues has not been fulfilling their duties as watcher of the dead,” Hel sighed after the waiter left with their order and Thor had opened the bottle of wine, “It is our job to catalog the souls of the departed so that we are able to bring them into our realm. If souls aren’t cataloged they are left to wander and fester. Some find their way back to physical mediums —dolls, mannequins, houses —and, yes, sometimes their rotting bodies.” She released another sigh before sipping at her wine, humming at the flavor. “Not as strong as I am used to but the flavor is quite nice.”

“You will find most Midgardian alcohol weaker than our own,” her father said as he drank from his own glass, decidedly much less graceful.

“She must get her table manners from her mother,” Natasha raised an eyebrow pointedly and Hel laughed; the redhead felt the warmth of pride and accomplishment, the sound really was something pleasant.

When Hel spoke, her eyes and voice softened, reliving childhood memories that brought a different sort of smile to her face, “I was often told that even if I would not inherit a throne, there was no reason not to hold myself as if I didn’t. To respect myself and the people around me as if I was their sovereign protector, their Queen, was how I was taught.”

Natasha cast a look at Thor, prepared to ask why his daughter would not be able to rule Asgard after Thor is through with his reign, but his downcast look stopped her.

“Odin does not approve of my parentage and neither would the rest of Asgard. Besides, my father and mother did not bond at the time of my conception, so it would not be possible for me to inherit it anyway. Though Asgard differs from Midgard in many ways, they still do not surrender the throne to a mere bastard.” The Beta did not sound saddened by this, only accepting of the facts, though —to Natasha— it did not wholly ring true. It was not a lie, but… not the truth.

“Wait so I’m still not getting the zombie thing,” Tony petulantly interrupted, heedless of Thor’s quietness and the guilty look on his face, “Why wouldn’t they just haunt a toaster or something?”

“Inanimate objects can only sustain them for so long. Their bodies, though they may be decomposing, offer much more stability.”

The waiter appeared with their tray of desserts and they pause their conversation, Hel expertly filling the silence as she praises the waiter for his speed and the kitchen for their presentation though she didn't sound like a gushing girl, but a dignified woman. The blushing waiter stuttered his thanks before departing.

“So, who do we have to beat up?”

Hel rolled her eyes at Tony, looking at him as one would a particularly dumb child. “You can’t. They are beyond your control. Let deities punish deities. You focus on the realm of man.” She took a bite of her cake and makes a noise of pleasure —one that has Natasha’s hair standing on end— before turning back to Tony, swallowing and continuing on with her explanation. “I shall assist you though. It reflects badly on all of us if we let one get away with such laziness. I will also help you clean up the most pressing of the issue; otherwise, they shan’t perish until there is meddling in the other realm.”

“So… you’ll help?”

“Yes, Anthony Stark. I will help,” she confirmed, licking her spoon with sigh that spoke of deep suffering.

“We have a lot of them contained—.”

“Father has told me where,” she interrupted, “You will get us there.”

* * *

“So, uh, Hel, you said you had a mate?”

“I do. He is a Beta, like myself.”

“What does he… well, what is he? What does he do?”

“Tony!” Natasha hissed, jamming her elbow into his side.

“Lady Natasha, it is quite alright. Garmr is a shapeshifter. He is —uh— what do you Midgardians call them?— like a ‘werewolf’,” Hel mused, making vague gestures with her hands as she sought how to explain her mate’s species to the Midgardians, “He is a native of Niflheim and the being Myrkr, the realm itself, bore him for me so that he may guard the gates of my realm. It was by fate that we found in each other a perfect match. Though he can be a bit excitable, he is fiercely loyal and it someone I have come to rely on.”

Tony stared, slack jawed and unblinking, which made the other three in the helicopter snicker.

“My daughter has found a great mate in Garmr!” Thor said proudly, “Her mother and I could not approve more!”

The smile she gave Thor was one that would eclipse the sun and melt the moon.

* * *

When they landed and stepped out of Tony’s private helicopter, they were greeted by the sounds of the undead’s pained groaning. On Hel’s orders, most of the people working the site had stepped back, leaving only the four of them standing on the other side of the hastily put up fence, rotting, fleshy and boney hands trying to claw at them from the other side.

“There are many,” Hel nodded, as if answering her own question, though she didn't say it without compassion, gazing at the sight before her, “I will welcome them into my realm; though, I will have to destroy their bodies.”

“We contacted as many of their families as we could,” Natasha said as Tony shifted awkwardly on his feet, feeling vulnerable without his armor, “They understand.”

“Good,” she said absentmindedly before going on in a more serious, and firmer, tone, “I will have to reveal my true form in order to handle this. It is not pleasant, so prepare yourselves.”

Natasha wanted to ask for more details —she knew Tony did, too, it was written all over his face— but didn’t get the chance. Before anyone could even open their mouth, Hel was surrounded by magic —dark grey with hints of what seems to be green— and her Midgardian clothes turned into a dress which seemed to glitter with the colors of the night sky, an armored chest plate acting as the dress’ bodice, the armor extending down her arms to her wrists; she wore a helmet that had adornments on the sides like bird’s wings, a mesh mouth veil dangling to the side. Her bare skull gleamed in the light of day, her bony left femur poking out from the slit in the dress’ fabric and her bony right hand clutching her sword.

She turned to the Midgardians, who are staring at her in shock. “I told you. I am the Queen of the Dead. I am not pretty nor am I glamorous.”

“You are all those things and more,” Thor said, throat thick with unshed tears and it showed in his voice. “My beautiful Queen. My daughter.” He was way too happy given the situation but Hel’s human half turned pink with a blush so neither Tony nor Natasha decided to point it out.

“So, does your sword have a name, too? Or is Thor just special?”

She smiled, though it is a mix of good humor and a threat. “It is named Hallæri. It means ‘famine’.” Hel did not let Tony respond, stepping toward the undead and watching them shrink back from her. “Come now. Let me bring you peace.” They groaned and snarled at her, rattling at the fence in protest, trying to chew through it to get at her. She sighed at them as if they were particularly disobedient children.

“Do you need assistance?”

The Beta looked over at her father and saw that his hammer was already in his hand, hanging limply at his side but waiting for her to either accept or deny his offer. “No, I believe I’ll be alright,” she said, twirling her sword between her elegant fingers, tilting her head in thought, “I believe I shall just… discard of them in one fell swoop.”

Thor nodded, non-judgmental, and Natasha was once again envious that a man like him was in existence, was a father, but was not her own. She looked at Tony, who swallowed thickly before looking away from father and daughter, making meaningful eye contact with the ex-assassin; besides Clint and Bruce, they were the closest to each other with their unspoken but familiar childhoods helping to strengthen that platonic bond, they knew what each other was feeling even if little words were spoken.

As Hel made her way closer to the horde, Tony stepped closer to Natasha, leaning in to whisper, “I can’t believe Thor has grown children.”

“Are you still focused on that?” the Omega hissed, elbowing him in the side, “She’s queen of the dead, she looks like some dead beauty queen come back to life to get her revenge” —Thor turned to cast a scathing glare in her direction and, figuring it must be something that the Beta is self conscious about, Natasha quickly apologized— “Sorry, Thor. But, anyway, that’s what you’re focusing on?”

Tony shrugged, placing his sunglasses back on his face, “After all the things we’ve seen? No that’s not weird at all.”

She scoffed, crossing her arms and turning back around to watch Hel do… whatever it was she was going to do.

Hel swung her sword between her fingers for a second time, muttering something soundlessly. It seemed to be an incantation of some kind, since the blade of her sword began to glow in response. In a flurry of hair that whipped around her face, which was etched in an expression of determination, one that made her look like a fearsome, vengeful goddess, Hel drove her sword into the ground. A long crack formed from the blade of the sword, the ground peeling apart and cracking open as it traveled in the direction of the undead, zombie horde; it swallowed them, their bodies disintegrating into dust as the remains fell through the crack. With a painful sound, the ground stitched itself back together, leaving only the smell of upturned earth, moss and a sharp, metallic scent behind.

The quietness was startling, leaving Tony and Natasha to look around in shock.

“What the fuck just happened?” Tony, of course, was the one to break the silence, looking around as if the zombies would pop up from nowhere.

“I sent them to my realm on a temporary basis,” Hel said as she sheathed her sword and brushed her hair away from her face, “That being said, I have to return to get them settled. I can’t leave my mate to do all the work. This problem will be resolved within the week.” She turned to Thor, who enveloped her in a hug and pressed an absurd number of kisses on her cheeks and forehead, “Goodbye, Father. Give Mama and the boys a kiss for me.”

“You should try and visit more. He misses you.”

“I know. I’ll try after this mess is over and done with,” she said, pulling away from him. Hel nodded at the Midgardians before she muttered what appeared to be another incantation and disappeared back into her realm.

Natasha and Tony looked at Thor, who was smiling in an annoyingly proud way.

“I must go, too. As my mate grows, it becomes harder for him to care for the twins.”

“Wait, Thor, what—?!” Tony never got a chance to finish his question as Thor swung his hammer and disappeared, leaving the Alpha to deal with the crumpling of his world.

“...Well. I can’t wait to meet the other ones.”

**Author's Note:**

> The title is based off a quote by Jane Austen: "I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature." Also on the concept that Loki's children are part of a larger whole (family).... yeahhhhh, I'm not too happy with the title, to be honest. It may change. If anyone has any other title suggestions, let me know and I'll think about them.


End file.
